Perhaps the most remarkable feature of the meeting, aides on both sides of the aisle said, was the absence of partisan jockeying that often marks these summits.

Although the tax issue was far from resolved, participants agreed to focus on their areas of general agreement instead of highlighting differences, a remarkable shift in tone just 10 days after an election campaign marked by bitter rhetoric over taxes.

Even the distractions over Petraeus, Libya, etc., are not getting in the way of the glasnost.